Task force wants £670m for regeneration

Lord Rogers' Urban Task Force is calling on Government to spend up to £670m to help promote urban renaissance. The package of measures has been submitted to Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, who set up the task force in 1998, in advance of the Government's spending review to be announced in July.

The task force's proposals cover four main areas: raising design standards; sustainable transport; clean-up and renewal; and flagship regeneration.

To raise design standards, Lord Rogers proposes setting up a local architecture centre in every major city at a cost of up to £12m plus £3m per year running costs, design competitions for major regeneration projects (£5-10m per year) and resources for spatial masterplanning to deliver integrated urban renaissance (£5-10m per year).

Sustainable transport could be tackled by providing regeneration-related transport improvements (£50-100m per year) plus an increase of one-fifth in transport expenditure on walking, cycling and public transport (no net cost).

Clean-up and renewal, says the task force, requires a fund for the clean-up and management of the street environment (£50-100m per year), £50m per year for tackling contaminated land, and a renaissance fund for community-based projects (£500m over 10 years).

For flagship regeneration, the task force wants £25m over three years to help attract £225m of private sector investment in English cities, a fund for assembling land (£100-250m start-up costs), and the establishment of a regional investment regeneration company in each Regional Development Agency (£80m).

Lord Rogers said: "The renaissance of our towns and cities is central to tackling problems of social exclusion, failures in education and poverty as well as environmental decay. It needs to be a priority across Whitehall and the Government needs to move further and faster to make a reality of the renaissance."